This election season brought about some major change. Democrats are in and — just like lots of Republicans — Donald Rumsfeld is out. The day after midterm elections brought voters to the polls, reports from the White House said Rumsfeld would be removed from his position as defense secretary.

Rumsfeld's departure is something that should have happened a long time ago. Still, with Democrats taking the House and Senate and a new defense secretary in place, the United States is looking at a golden opportunity to move toward positive change in Iraq.

As with most things political, timing is everything. And according to a New York Times article, the decision to remove Rumsfeld is one that was discussed since late summer. Even Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a close adviser to President Bush, has publicly stated her qualms with Rumsfeld. Keeping all this in mind, it's somewhat odd that the Bush administration would wait until after Tuesday's election to make its move.

Maybe, just maybe, had Rumsfeld's dismissal been announced before the election, Republicans could have kept control of the Senate. But lucky for those rooting for the Democratic Party this election, that didn't happen.

Rumsfeld has become a polarizing character in the Bush administration, and with the war in Iraq becoming increasingly unpopular, replacing Rumsfeld was the obvious decision Bush had to make — especially since he only had two years left in office and is probably looking to improve his presidential legacy.

But even ousting the much-maligned Rumsfeld isn't working as grandly for the president as he may have hoped. According to the latest Newsweek poll, Bush's job approval rating has fallen to 31 percent, his lowest yet — and just two percentage points from his dad's lowest presidential rating.

Bush didn't look very far to replace Rumsfeld, choosing Robert M. Gates to fill the spot. Gates is a cohort of George Bush Sr. and served as director of the CIA during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. There's no doubt Gates will be under intense scrutiny, but filling the shoes of someone less incompetent than Rumsfeld shouldn't be too difficult.

Voters made a strong statement Tuesday by declaring a lack of confidence in the Republican Party. With a swing in the balance of power and Gates taking over for Rumsfeld, we'll hopefully begin to see some positive changes coming from the White House.